The Battle of the Five Armies

[joyful_molly]

Fun movie, best of the trilogy, not a moment of boredom. Great action, lots of Elves, drama, tears, what's not to love?

However.

King Thranduil the Exceptional and Impressive, Most Splendid and Feared Ruler of Mirkwood, King by the Valar's Grace, Ruler of 2000 Years, Shining Star of Greenwood The Green, Fairest of all Elven Lords, Light of the Dark

Comments

[caecus_parvulus]

I was hoping so much to enjoy these movies better, but thenlove triangle was so painfullyinaccurate, and bad, and unnecessary, and... and... and... It's been hard to get into them.

[joyful_molly]

I enjoyed them, but definitely not to the degree I enjoyed LOTR. Those movies were "life changing" (yes, big words, I know... but without them, there had never been a "Master Erestor"). The Hobbit could have been great if condensed to two movies and sans Elf soap. That was completely unnecessary, and I still don't get WHY Peter Jackson did it. I doubt Tauriel is an audience magnet.

[noadvertising]

I second that. Thranduil comes out rather poor. Didn´t deserve this, I´d say.

[joyful_molly]

I had no problem with his portrayal as being arrogant and a snob, it suits him. But this whole "you have no love" bit - it made absolutely no sense to me. And the implication that Legolas somewhat ended up in the Fellowship of the Ring because he was heartbroken over Tauriel was just too much. I'm not a Tolkien purist, and I understand that, to make a movie like this, you have to tweak and twist the book, but with that, my limit was reached.

[jaiden_s]

That was my problem with the movie, too. Geh. They should have just let Tauriel be in love with Fili and left the rest of it alone. Leggy was a sour mess and Thranduil was much more fun being a ponce, before he got all wimpy at the end.

[joyful_molly]

Yes, Tauriel/Kili wasn't even that much of a problem, as it didn't change Kili's character in a negative way. Dwarf loves Elf - no problem. But Legolas leaving Mirkwood because of a broken heart?! Whut? And Elf!soap Thranduil? That was just too much for me (though I know I'm a bit of a hypocrite there, considering that I've spent ten years writing Elf soaps!)

[tari_elven]

Urgh there was so much more wrong with it than that but the whole Kiliel lovey dovey shite just ruined it. I'd probably say it was an alright movie without it but urgh.

[joyful_molly]

We had a LOTR re-watch marathon over New Year's Eve, and the impact of those three movies is just still so much bigger on every level than the one of the Hobbit. I don't think I'll watch any of the Hobbit movies 30 times! They just don't "stay" with me, you know?

[tari_elven]

I know that feeling. I long ago lost count of how many times I've seen LotR but with the Hobbit I've seen the first maybe 6-7 times and the 2 twice, still haven't even watched the extended yet. I've seen BotFA twice in the cinemas but I think now I'll hold out for the extended and hope they've completely rearranged the second half and got rid of the love scenes.

[joyful_molly]

and got rid of the love scenes.

I'm afraid if anything, we'll get more schmooping, not less...

I hope BotFA will get a proper ending - as things are now, you leave the theatre thinking either Thranduil or Bard ran off with the Arkenstone! Btw did you see the normal version or the high resolution one? I saw the latter, and I really didn't like it, almost looked like a BBC documentary...

[chloe_amethyst]

Hahaha, I felt the very same way! But I didn't quite understand it all because it just seemed WEIRD.

I'm going to have to write a fic in which someone comments on His Royal Highness' battle moose with HRH yelling in protest, "It's not a moose!!!"

[joyful_molly]

I can only encourage the creation of such fic! :-D Antler fic for the win! :)

While I can somewhat understand why he added Tauriel/Kili (though I don't think it added anything to the movie and didn't draw additional audience), the whole Elf soap thing was just silly and bizarre.